Argentine businessmen Hugo and Mariano Jinkis admitted their involvement in the FIFA bribery case, which has been ongoing for more than ten years. UNN reports this, citing AP.
Details
According to U.S. prosecutors, 81-year-old Hugo Jinkis and his 51-year-old son Mariano paid football organizations “tens of millions of dollars” in bribes through the company Full Play Group SA between 2010 and 2015.
The admission was made in a Brooklyn court as part of a deferred prosecution agreement. It does not constitute a formal guilty plea; however, the men agreed to forfeit $50 million.
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Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges by September 2027, provided that the Jinkises do not commit any new crimes. The maximum penalty for this offense is up to 20 years in prison.
The case is part of a sweeping corruption scandal at FIFA that erupted in 2015. At the time, U.S. prosecutors charged more than 50 people. In December, the United States also announced the termination of several other criminal cases related to the scandal due to a change in prosecutorial priorities.
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